Mark Ford, head coach of the Napanee Crunch Peewee girls BB team has been coaching for over twenty-six years. He said it all started in University when he applied for a job to help coach a grade seven-eight team and got the gig. At the time he was playing football in University and he coached the high school basketball while going to school, which progressed to coaching college basketball. When he moved back home he coached with the Guardsmen organization and the Spirits. Once Mark’s kids were old enough to start hockey, that’s where all his time went. He said he started in Deseronto and once his daughters were old enough to come into the Crunch program, he transitioned to Napanee. Mark has five kids, who are all very athletic.
When asked what he gets out of the experience, Mark says it is taking a group of kids and forming a team. He likens it to “building a society, a little social network.” You are building friendships and you see each one of the players develop week in and week out. He says the best part is probably taking them beyond where they think they can be. You have to enjoy coming to the rink and playing the game. He says that is it, he has always enjoyed the “beyond hockey part of it”.
Mark says the biggest challenge he has faced as a coach is reinventing himself year in and year out. He says twenty-six years ago the kids were totally different then they are today. Mark says kids don’t follow him, he must follow the kids, meaning he must stay in touch with what the latest trends are. For example right now it’s tic-toc and twenty-some years ago it was the internet. One thing Mark will always live by as a coach are the three words, “firm, fun and fair.” He says you have to be there for the kids, and adapt to them, as they won’t necessarily adapt to you and he says that is probably where coaches make the biggest mistake, thinking that they are the coach and the players need to follow.
Mark encourages people to volunteer, be it through coaching, sitting on a board, referring. He says that is a big concern every year, that there just won’t be enough volunteers to fill those roles. Mark says one of his new mandates is to try and recruit more female coaches, he says there is nothing better than a female mentor for a female player.
Mark says his biggest accomplishment is knowing that he helps develop kids. He said they come back and talk to him after years of playing and tell him how he has helped and impacted their game or their lives. Mark closed of the interview by saying, it’s not about wins or loses, or trophies, it’s about the great individual stories; that is what he will always cherish the most.
